Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-297) and indexes

Foreword / by David Letterman -- Prologue -- The electrified fish house -- Grabbed by the medium -- The opportunity to be bad -- Pulling a fast one -- Game changers -- Amateur night in West Newton -- Nomads with earphones -- Mccarthyism in skunk haven -- The Bert and Harry campaign -- Escape artists -- Baby boom -- Mad men -- The smelly Dave caper -- A fragile dynamic -- B&R ink for pic in stix -- The two and only -- Wally Ballou for mayor -- Tuesday and Thursdays only -- A night of two stars -- The English Channel

In Bob and Ray, Keener than Most Persons," David Pollock, with the full cooperation of Bob Elliott and of Ray Goulding's widow, Liz, and with the insights of numerous colleagues, traces the origins and development of the unique sensibility that defined their dozens of local and network radio and television series, later motion picture roles, Carnegie Hall performances, and hit Broadway show, Bob and Ray: The Two and Only. Bob and Ray's many parodies, including "Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife" and "Mr. Trace, Keener than Most Persons," and storehouse of recurring characters, such as ace reporter Wally Ballou, cowboy singer Tex Blaisdell, and book reviewer Webley Webster, were known and adored by millions, but the twosome deflected all intrusions into the personalities behind their many masks and the dynamics of their relationship, and rarely elaborated on their career trajectory of methodology. Bob and Ray were a team for 43 years, longer than Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis. "Bob and Ray, Keener than Most Persons" explores the craft and culture behind that longevity and behind the laughter they brought into millions of American homes. - Publisher

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews